We want to congratulate Hannah Wilson for representing Marion County so well during this past weekend’s Distinguished Young Women of Kentucky competition.

Photo by Christopher L. Zollner, Carpe Imago, LLC

Hannah Wilson was one of the top 10 finalists in the 2013 Kentucky Distinguished Young Woman competition Saturday evening. More images from the DYW competition can be viewed at the following website: www.carpe-imago.smugmug.com.

Photo by Christopher L. Zollner, Carpe Imago, LLC

Wilson reached the finals of the competition, and finished in the top 10 Saturday evening. She also received a preliminary interview award and was the first person in the history of the state program to receive a “My Town” scholarship, which she won for a 30-second video she made about Marion County.

It doesn’t surprise us that Wilson performed so well during the competition.

After all, the Distinguished Young Women program promotes scholarship, leadership and talent in young women. Wilson excels in all three of those areas.

And, just like the young women that represented Marion County before her, Wilson shares their humble attitudes and friendly demeanors.

This past summer, the Enterprise actually had the opportunity to help with mock interviews during the Marion County Distinguished Young Women program, and we were very impressed with Wilson, specifically her outgoing, down-to-earth personality. She was very at ease and comfortable during the interview process, and she left a lasting impression on the panel of interviewers.

The Enterprise has also observed Wilson in other settings, such as speaking in front of an audience during a Marion County Board of Education meeting. She is a well-spoken, confident, intelligent and determined young lady. And, she’s not afraid to express her opinion. We appreciate her candor. In fact, we find it endearing, especially when speaking in front of a room full of adults. She’s just a senior in high school, but her level of maturity goes far beyond her years.

Wilson went into the 2013 Distinguished Young Women of Kentucky program with a hard act to follow. After all, Marion Countians Christine Mattingly and Paige Wilson (no relation) won the state program in 2011 and 2012, respectively. There’s a lot of pressure that comes just from participating in the program, much less representing the county that won in back-to-back years.

In our view, Hannah Wilson upheld the county’s legacy with her well-rounded performance, and more importantly, by understanding that the program is about doing your best.

In interviews, Wilson spoke frequently about feeling blessed to be part of the Marion County program and to have gotten as far as she did in the state program. Well, Marion County should feel blessed, too, because we can count Wilson as one of our own.

We applaud her for continuing the tradition of showing our county and state what it truly means to be a Distinguished Young Woman.